The present invention relates to a technique for improving the catalytic properties of various antimony-containing oxide complex oxidation catalysts.
Oxidation catalysts in which antimony forms an integral part of the base catalyst system have been used for various types of oxidation reactions, e.g. oxidation of olefins to produce aldehydes and acids, ammoxidation of olefins to produce unsaturated nitriles and oxydehydrogenation of olefins to produce diolefins such as isoprene. For example, note U.S. Pat. No. 3,431,292, which discloses various uranium antimonate catalysts useful in various oxidation reactions, U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,952, which discloses iron antimonate catalysts useful in various oxidation reactions, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,296,957, which discloses various tin antimonate catalysts useful in various oxidation reactions. The disclosures of all these patents are incorporated herein by reference.
While catalysts described in the prior art are capable of providing good yields of the desired end products, it is always beneficial to improve the performance of catalysts so that they can provide even better yields.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for forming new antimony-containing oxide complex oxidation catalysts which yield catalysts having improved catalytic properties.
In addition, it is a further object of the invention to provide a novel technique for processing used antimony-containing oxide complex catalysts to rejuvenate the catalytic properties thereof.